The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical devices that are configured to be mounted to a wall or panel.
Electrical devices are commonly mounted to walls, tables, cases, and the like, via the use of bolts and nuts. For example, the electrical device may be placed against a flat panel, a bolt is inserted through aligned openings in the device and the panel, and bolt is threadably connected to a nut. As a result, a portion of the electrical device and the panel are sandwiched between the nut and a head of the bolt.
Typical nut-and-bolt mounting of electrical devices to panels has several drawbacks. For example, to tighten the nut-and-bolt assembly, usually two different wrenches must be used, with one wrench engaging the nut and the other wrench engaging the head of the bolt to ensure rotation of the bolt relative to the nut. But, it may be difficult for a person mounting the electrical device to access and operate two different wrenches that are on opposite sides of the panel. Furthermore, due to vibration, tension, material expansion and contraction, and other stresses, the nut risks loosening relative to the bolt over time. Conventional devices use separate nut retaining components to lock the nut in place relative to the bolt, such as lock washers, spring washers, cotter pins, secondary jam nuts, interference collars, straps, and the like. But, these separate nut retaining components increase costs as a result of extra parts costs and assembly costs. In addition, since the panel and a portion of the electrical device are sandwiched between the nut and the head of the bolt, the nut and/or the head of the bolt may be visible on the surface of the electrical device, which could be considered aesthetically undesirable.
A need remains for a mountable electrical device that provides efficient, cost-effective nut retention.